Novartis patent matter: where were we looking?

There is a really nice article in Economic Times dated August 13, 2007. It is something which is so true and most of us have lost sight of in the Novartis Glivec matter. It is about healthcare and infrastructure that is in woeful condition in India. While the activists have been rallying about the fact that patents are bad for the healthcare and patients in India, nobody has ever made a hue and cry about the miserable condition of hospitals and healthcare in India.

The really good part about the article is the facts and statistics which speak volumes about the state of affairs in India. The article clearly brings out the fact that for the Indian poor, intellectual property is not the issue. The real issue is the healthcare infrastructure. Some startling facts, I have culled out and listed below:

(a) About 60% of Indian do not have access to basic, off patent (generic) medicines;

(b) Despite pumping cheap generic AIDS drugs for years, only 5.5% of India’s AIDS sufferer were receiving any drugs by end of 2006

(c) According to a 2005 report by Transparency International, the health system is the most corrupt service sector in India. The transport network is so bad that rural people struggle to get to a clinic, even if one exists within 200 kms of their home

(d) An estimated 400, 000 Indian children under five die each year from preventable diarrhea.

(e) Children are going without routine vaccinations

(f) Simple anti-infectives are out of reach of the majority of rural poor

The authors of the column are A Van Gelder and P Steven, analysts at International Policy Network, a think-tank based in London. I do not know where they may have got the statistics and I do not vouch for the accuracy either. What I can definitely vouch for is that being an Indian myself, I know without my own facts and figures that they are not way off the mark.

Instead of looking at intellectual property as an enemy, people should start viewing it in the light of as an essential economic tool. A good IP regime is beneficial for everyone. It is beneficial for the economic growth of the country since intellectual property protection is amongst the first things that foreign companies look at before investing. On the other hand for the public it is good since intellectual properties such as patents act as guarantees for good quality and effective drugs. It is not an unknown fact that there is a huge market in India for copy drugs that do not international standards and untested drugs.